Furloughs rising possible way to go

LINCOLN — As Marcia Rowley ate lunch in the State Office Building cafeteria, she contemplated her future as a state emsployee.

Rowley, 57, is one of five support staff members at the Tax Equalization and Review Commission. Over four years, their workload has nearly doubled, from 1,000 property tax protests a year to 1,700.

With state budget cuts looming in the special session of the Nebraska Legislature, there’s talk of laying off one staff member after July 1.

That’s a concern for Rowley, who has worked in normally stable state government for 18 years, including a previous 14-year stint with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Losing one of four co-workers would be a “hard hit,” she said.

“I don’t know what we’d do. We’re struggling already,” said Rowley, who commutes 36 miles each day from her home in Adams, Neb.

These are anxious days for the 18,300 employees of the State of Nebraska and for the 14,800 that work for the university and state college system.

State officials have said that an estimated 400 layoffs likely would be needed over the next two years to help reach the $334 million that must be cut from the state budget.

But over the past week, a less harsh — and less permanent — alternative has gained attention: furloughs.

Unpaid days off, or furloughs, have been used by 22 other states, including Iowa, where they are a key part of the budget solution.

State court employees, including judges, in Iowa will take 10 furlough days before June 30.

The Iowa state employees union and Gov. Chet Culver recently struck a tentative deal that, if approved by union members, would require 20,000 noncourt workers to take five “mandatory unpaid days.” That would stave off nearly 500 job layoffs this fiscal year.

“The only reason we sat down was to save jobs, and mandatory unpaid days (furloughs) save jobs,” said Charlie Wishman, spokesman for Iowa Council 61 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.

That feeling was echoed by his counterpart in Nebraska, Julie Dake Abel, executive director of the Nebraska Association of Public Employees. Unlike factory workers, state workers who are laid off are rarely “called back” to their jobs, Dake Abel said, while furloughed workers keep their jobs and benefits.

“That would be least disruptive to the public and employees,” she said.

The news has been worse in other states.

In California, 17,500 teachers had been laid off as of July. In Hawaii, all state employees are taking three furlough days per month for the next two years.

In Michigan, the state stopped providing funds for the State Fair. This summer, state offices were closed on six days — mostly Fridays — to save money.

In Wyoming and Iowa, 10 percent across-the-board budget cuts have been ordered.

Lincoln Sen. Bill Avery has led the call in the special session to use furloughs instead of layoffs. The Appropriations Committee has now picked up his idea and included it as a suggestion in the tentative budget bill.

The legislation states that agencies “at their discretion” could use furloughs to make short-term budget cuts.

“This will protect families in a bad economy,” Avery said, by keeping paychecks coming, even if they’re smaller. It is better for the economy, he added, to avoid putting people out of work.

Avery estimated that if every state employee whose salary was financed by general, cash or revolving funds took 10 furlough days, it would offset the $15 million that would be saved by laying off 400 workers over the next two years.

Gov. Dave Heineman, in announcing his plan to cut the budget, indicated that state agencies should have the leeway to use furloughs and other tools to reduce spending.

At least one state agency head, Mike Smith at the Nebraska State Historical Society, has already floated the idea of “voluntary” furloughs to his employees.

Smith said it would allow those employees who are able and willing to take some days off without pay to help the agency, while retaining employees who can’t take furloughs.

“(Furloughs) are a tool,” Smith said. “You retain good employees, people who are well-trained and motivated.”

Unlike reductions of hours from full to part time — a step that several workers took during the economic downturn earlier this decade — furloughs do not affect benefits such as health insurance and seniority, he said.

Not all senators are fans of furloughs. State Sen. John Wightman of Lexington said furloughs give the idea that no jobs ought to be cut in state government, when a state agency might discover that layoffs or the consolidations of jobs are the best routes to reduce spending.

“When the rest of the world is downsizing, to think that government employment should stay the same or grow is bad policy,” Wightman said.

In the halls of state government, several workers interviewed said they would much prefer furloughs to layoffs, though there might be other cost-cutting alternatives, such as early retirement for some workers.

Most officials have said the state may be able to manage without drastic job actions until July 1, which is the beginning of the next fiscal year.

Susan Riepe, a staff assistant in the State Health and Human Services Department in Lincoln, said she’s trying not to think about furloughs or layoffs. But, she said, if something has to be done, she’d prefer furloughs.

“Everyone would have to sacrifice,” Riepe said, “but they’d all have a job to come back to.”

Contact the writer:

402-473-9584, paul.hammel@owh.com

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